Street clock
{{Short description|Type of clock}}
{{other uses|Sidewalk clock (disambiguation)}}
File:Utica NY.jpg, USA]]
A street clock or post clock is a freestanding clock mounted on top of a post typically installed in a streetscape, sidewalk, or other urban or park settings. These clocks were prominent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, serving as both functional timepieces and advertisements for jewelers and watchmakers. Many were manufactured by companies like E. Howard & Co. and Seth Thomas Clock Company and remain historic landmarks today.
History
Street clocks emerged in the 1870s-1880s in major cities like New York, Boston, and Chicago. Many were installed in front of jewelry stores to symbolize precision and reliability.{{cite book|last=McCrossen|first=Alexis|title=Marking Modern Times|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Marking_Modern_Times/0zG64Y0qlCAC?hl=en&gbpv=0|publisher=University of Chicago Press|date=2013|page=122|access-date=2025-03-30}}
Freestanding sidewalk clocks mounted on street posts are common in many urban areas. For example, in New York City there are six sidewalk clocks that have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.{{cite web|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/64000591_text |title=Sidewalk Clock of New York City Thematic Resources|publisher=National Park Service|date=April 18, 1985|access-date=2025-03-30}}
A less common kind of street clock can be found on Maiden Lane in Manhattan, New York. In the late 19th century, William Barthman Jewelers had a clock embedded in the sidewalk.{{cite news |first=Jen |last=Carlson |work=Gothamist |title=A Clock Has Been Embedded In This Manhattan Sidewalk Since The 1800s |url=http://gothamist.com/2014/09/29/sidewalk_clock_nyc.php |date=September 29, 2014 |access-date=April 9, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409080541/http://gothamist.com/2014/09/29/sidewalk_clock_nyc.php |archive-date=April 9, 2015 }}{{cite news |first=Anna |last=Kannapell |newspaper=The New York Times |title=F.Y.I. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/26/nyregion/fyi-492515.html |date=June 26, 1994 |access-date=April 9, 2015}} {{as of|2014}}, the clock remains visible and maintained.
Past street clock manufacturers in the United States included:
- Brown Street Clock Company, of Monessen, Pennsylvania
- E. Howard & Co., of Roxbury, Massachusetts
- Seth Thomas Clock Company
Current street clock manufacturers in the United States:
- Tower Clocks USA
- The Verdin Company of Cincinnati, Ohio
Examples
File:Inside Westfield Horton Plaza 7.JPG|Jessop's Clock in Westfield Horton Plaza 7, San Diego, California
File:Sherry-clock.jpg| New York Sidewalk Clock, at 783 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City
File:Street clock, Bath, Maine.jpg|Built in Boston, Massachusetts, by Seth Thomas Clock Company in 1911, it was moved to Bath, Maine, in 1915[https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=77085 Bath Street Clock] – Historical Marker Database
File:Street clock, City Market, Savannah.jpg|In Ellis Square, Savannah, Georgia
File:Hollywood Boulevard Clock.jpg|William Stromberg Clock on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California
See also
References
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{{Commons category|Street clocks}}
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